


Being Good Is Overrated

by Skroomie



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Sexual Assault, Broken Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson-centric, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, I Tried, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm lazy, Jason Todd is good-ish, Minor Dick Grayson/Wally West, Protective Slade Wilson, Sad Wally West, Slow To Update, Still hurts though, Villain Dick Grayson, but nothing happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24300319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skroomie/pseuds/Skroomie
Summary: Robin is bored. Bored of being 'good'.He probably would have continued being bored if it wasn't for him accidentally killing someone.Crazy stuff happens and then...He becomes a mercenary. Sort of.(Honestly, this story is terrible. I tried my hardest. Quarantine does some crazy stuff man)~ I originally wrote this on wattpad but I put it on here because I no longer like wattpad ~
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson & The Team (Young Justice), Dick Grayson & Wally West, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo, Welcome to this shit show of a story!
> 
> I will start by telling you I am not a great writer but still I hope you can at least understand the story xD
> 
> This is one of those stories I've had in my head for ages but can't do it justice in writing. If I was more skilled in my writing this may have been better but I guess this is the best I can do.
> 
> Considering when I originally wrote this it took me one year to write seven chapters don't expect much in the updating department. I try but I'm lazy as heck xD
> 
> Anyway! I hope you enjoy!

**Robin's POV**

_ **THE MOUNTAIN - 6:35 AM** _

To say I was in a bad mood was an understatement, it wasn't like I woke up on the wrong side of bed. The only thing I could compare this feeling too was when you are so annoyed that you want to just scream but you physically can't. The one thing could possibly make this day worse was a mission... I guess I can't avoid that though, considering my job. 

"Yo, Rob there's an alert from Batman. You need to come out of your room" KF shouted, sounding a little annoyed, knocking on my door before speeding away. Considering how much he was speeding, this has to be serious. That only makes me want to go slower.

I don't truly have an explanation for how I am feeling. Its just for once in my life I didn't wanna go save the day, I just wanted to stay here or go back the Wayne manor. I was bored of continually doing the same thing, wake up, go to school, act like i'm the perfect student, act like i'm the perfect child, go to the cave, do a simple mission then go out with the bat. Everyday the exact same thing.

As I let my mind wander over my childish thoughts I took my time to leave my room. I didn't know why I had a room in the cave but I was sure glad of it. All I had in said room was a small uncomfortable bed, a draw with items to restock my belt with and a couple of spare sets of clothes. It was simple but also always the same. Everything was always the same. 

I walked down the dimly lit hallway of the cave, still taking my sweet time. I could hear the call the team was having with the bat. My steps grew slower again absentmindedly, almost as if this had become a habit. The hallway lit up again as I reached its end, now faced with the team all waiting for something. Waiting for me. I gave them a small smile, not raising my eyes to meet theirs, and stood next to Wally.

"Robin you missed the call again." Kaldur started, looking back at the screen to replay the message. I thought for a second before I looked up at Kaldur's face. I was about to reply with a snarky comment but I was so rudely interrupted by the bat explaining this mission.

The black suit loving man appeared on the screen with his usual stern look.

"Joker has hired some thieves to distract everyone while he escapes Arkham again but an inside informant has tipped us off. I need you all to stop the thieves while I stop the joker, again." The bat spoke. I could tell that the joker was really pissing him off as he had only put the clown in Arkham a few weeks ago. After the replay finished, Kaldur shut the message off. 

"You got that boy wonder?" Artemis smirked. Sometimes that girl really annoys me, like now and when she stole my best friend. I would continue but I digress. 

"Clear as day" I mumbled before heading to M'gann's ship.

This should be an easy mission but then again I do most of the real saving anyway, the team would be nothing without me.

** _SOMEWHERE IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF GOTHAM - 8:53 AM_ **

We eventually arrived at the mission site and it was surprisingly quiet. I mean it's pretty early in the morning but you would think they would be at least making some sound. We landed quick, the bio-ship automatically descending into its camouflage mode. The door of the ship slowly opened and we filtered out. The building before us was rather small but it seemed well put together. Obviously it was a new build as the metal outside looked fresh. I took mental notes as I scanned the building. It was relatively unguarded but I guess for a distraction team the joker didn't hire anyone of great intelligence. Kaldur abruptly cleared this throat tearing me from my thoughts.

"Robin and Kid Flash I need you two at the entrance, don't mess around I'm trusting you both to not let anyone out of that building. Artemis, you and M'gann are gonna go in from the roof, be stealthy we don't want to alert them if possible. That leaves me and Connor to come in from the side entrances when we get the okay from the girls. Everyone got it?" Kaldur explained.

We all nodded, me doing so reluctantly may I add, and went to our respective places.

** _\- 30 mins later - 9:23 am_ **

"Hey, Rob?" KF questioned. He had awkwardly placed himself against the door we were guarding. Rather stupid I would say considering he would go flying if anyone tried to open it.

Without looking at his face I new he would have a stupid worried look on it. This look has become directed to me too often lately.

"Yeah..." I said, my attention not really on him. I was bored out of my mind, absolutely nothing had happened and it was starting to get annoying. If only Kaldur would have let Wally and I into the building, we would have had this mission done way earlier.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted" KF asked pushing himslef off the door and walking over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder softly. I quickly shrugged him off quick, trying my hardest to get my head back in the mission.

"I'm fine KF, just concentrating which you should be doing," I said not wanting to talk any more but KF being the loud mouth he is just kept talking. I stood myself up as I myself was leaning on the metal walls of the building.

"You sure that's all it is Rob, you've been really off lately. Has something happened with Batman?"

"Look Wally just shut up please I'm not in the mood, concentrate on the mission" I snapped walking a bit away from him. His heart was in the right place but I really wasn't in the mood to discuss feelings.

"First, no calling me by my name on mission, you know that. Second, you can't sort out your problems without talking about them" Wally said calmly, tentatively walking towards me again.

"Just leave me alone okay!" I shouted finally giving up and walking away from my post.

I love Wally but he can seriously be a bit too persistent sometimes. We're best friends, almost like brothers, but I'm just in the wrong mood right now for our normal happy chats. I regret snapping at him already, but what has been done cannot be reversed, I guess i'll just apologise later.

I sat down on the ground by a dumpster, just around the corner of the building I was meant to be guarding. Wally hadn't come after me so I decided to stay where I was for a while, or that was the plan until Kaldur's voice sounded in my head.

_'Kid Flash, Robin, get ready we're about to storm the place'_ Kaldur said though the mental link.

"About goddamn time" I mumbled out loud to myself before being interrupted by Wally this time.

_'I'm ready but Rob has run off somewhere'_ KF replied.

_'Robin where are y- -'_

Just before I got to hear what Kaldur was saying I got hit around the head. My vision went fuzzy but I quickly got up and grabbed for my bird'a'rangs. I stumbled slightly as I rose to my feet but not enough to truly worry about. 

With my small weapons firmly grasped in my hand, I felt like I had control of the situation, no need to call for help. I threw one and heard a hiss of pain followed by a force pushing me against the wall I was leaning on before. The rough texture of the wall burning my back as I was dragged up to my attackers height.

My vision started to clear and I saw a typical criminal, dressed head to toe in black. So original, I know. I really do live in a world of cliches. One thing stuck out about him though were his eyes. Lifeless, but you could tell he had purpose, and right now that purpose was to strangle me, worst thing is he seemed to really enjoy it. I struggled in his grip, a grip which seemed to loosen quick.

I pushed back on his firm arm and freed myself, this gave me just enough to grab another bird'a'rang. I fiercely stuck it into his arm, he quickly released and jumped back in pain.

As I was gasping for air he just stood and watched, a sickening smile adorned his face underneath the mask he had now practically pulled off. Blood was free flowing down his arm but that didn't seem to bother him at all.

"You enjoying this?" I smirked deciding to entertain his creepy personality.

"A bit too much." He mumbled in a low voice. His smile only seemed to grow as he took a step closer. God this guy was a real psycho.

"Enjoy this then!" I smiled back as I quickly drew and threw the small bird-shaped weapon. If he was going to act as if this was a game, ill make it a game.

As soon as it left my hand I realised my mistake, it was as if life went into slow motion as the freshly sharpened bird'a'rang sliced deeply into the thief's uncovered neck. He stared at me with a scared but surprised look as he dropped to his back. I ran over and put my hand where I had hit him, trying to preserve what little life he had left. I didn't mean to aim there, I don't know why I just did that!

"Stay with me now" I whispered pathetically, pressing harder. Blood pooled on the floor around his head, completely soaking my uniform. Strong spurts of red pushed on my fingers as I struggled to grip tighter.

Through the gurgling and choking, I heard a hate-filled "fuck you". For some unexplained reason I started to enjoy hearing the life being slowly drained away from this man, it gave me a weird feeling of emotional release.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, I released my grip on his neck and hesitantly smiled as the warm blood dripped off my fingers merging with the pool at my knees. It felt good to control a life, to be the one to decide if he lived or died. I couldn't have possibly saved him even if I kept pressure on the wound. Why should I try to save him though? What has he done to be saved? My guess would be nothing, so I let his life slip through my fingers.

As I saw the last bit of life drain from his eyes I went in to check for a single sign he could be alive.

None.

He was dead.

I Robin, a so-called 'hero', just took a life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kid Flash's POV**

The mission went smoothly as usual, it was a simple one anyway so error was not easy to come by. It was a bummer though that Rob freaked and walked off. He had been doing that more often lately, by lately I mean for the last few months. I would say it was uncharacteristic but I had seen him act like this before. It was when the B-man took on the new Robin, of course Rob felt like he was being betrayed so he shut down and distanced himself from the team, from everyone. I really hope its not like that again as someone had to die before he went back to normal last time.

After the team exited the building, bad guys in tow, I quickly told them about Robin running off. Confused yet knowing faces slowly appeared on each other member and with that we started looking for him. 

I turned the corner and saw a wet glint on the gravel covered ground. Panic st in as I realised what it was. I looked over to Kaldur and he calmly walked over and saw what I was panicked about. Softly he put his webbed hand on my shoulder.

"M'gann, can you feel his presence?" Kaldur asked calmly, choosing not to alert the team of the abundance of blood on the floor.

"No, not yet. It's almost like he's vanished!" M'gann answered eyes widening as she also saw the blood, somehow still calm she went over to tell the rest of the team.

Sudden worry filled my brain as I ran through all possibilities.

"He could be unconscious?" I interjected.

M'gann sat down and kept scanning the area completely ignoring my comment. Maybe she wasn't as calm as I originally thought.

\---

One whole hour went by of frantic searching before we had decided to call for back-up. At this point, we thought it might be best if we called batman, but just as Kaldur was about to press the contact button a small thud came from behind us.

"I thought you guys would have left me by now" a small voice dead-pan sounded. Slowly we turned around to see a blood-covered and annoyed-looking Robin. He stood in a relaxed stance not actually looking at the team instead looking straight passed us.

"Holy shit! What the hell happened?" Artemis shouted.

"Oh, this?" Robin smirked, gesturing to his uniform. "This is what happens when you try and capture some escapees and one of them gets caught in the crossfire of the other. Only to get shot at close range in the jugular, this caused lots of blood which happened to end up on me!" He continued nonchalantly. He took a few steps towards the ship as if to say he wanted to leave. I went to follow but them Conner started to talk.

"So, it's not yours?" Superboy inquired, not convinced.

"Nope! Luckily." Robin chirped.

An awkward silence followed after the little bird spoke so with that we decided not to ask any more questions and head back to the ship, dragging along the extremely bored bad guys who had to sit and wait through all of this.

After a few minutes in the air I looked over to Robin. A thought suddenly passed through my mind, for someone who just saw a gruesome death and couldn't do anything to help, he seemed awfully happy. He mindlessly fiddled with the now dry blood on his uniform. This was a turn from his attitude this morning and not a good turn at that. 

The rest of the team were also frequently glancing at the oblivious teen. Probably all thinking the same as me.

Why is he acting so strange?

**Robin's POV**

"Would you quit staring" I said startling the team. The look on their faces was almost comical. "What? Did you think I wouldn't notice five pairs of eyes on me. You guys are so obvious..."

I didn't really mean to sound so distraught but my emotions where all over the place right now. I was trying my best to use all the bats techniques to hide the weird concoction of emotions I was feeling. Though it did seem I wasn't the only emotional passenger on this ship, I could see the anger boiling in Artemis as I was talking.

"Damn Robin could you show some empathy!" Artemis suddenly burst out. Damn, she must have been holding onto this for a while.

"Empathy? For a criminal. No way Miss Crock..." I smirked dramatically standing up to face her. Fury grew on her face as I slowly walked over to her. She herself stood up and got into a defensive pose. 

The rest of the team seemed hesitant to do anything, knowing how Arte could get and all. Also even if they tried this is too fun to stop. I looked up at her tan face and gave her an antagonising smirk.

"What is up with you Robin? You've never acted like this before! You're being a huge dick." The angry archer continued. This caused Wally to let out a small chuckle before going back to intently watching what was happening. I smiled at him quick before looking at Artemis again. 

With no warning she took one step closer and slapped me straight across my jaw. It would be a lie to say it didn't hurt.

I decided physical retaliation would be bad when I felt murderous so verbal was all I could do. "Well that was uncalled for. Looks like it's someone's in a bad mood! I'm sorry your little heart can't handle a little bit of death" I retorted with a laugh.

"You damn bird!" She screamed this time following it with not a slap but a high-kick aimed straight for my face.

I attempted to dodge but was a bit too late and I fell to the ground, despite the archer slim body she sure knew how to kick. Well I mean she was trained by criminals. I spat out the blood that filled my mouth from biting my tongue. A mix of mostly blood but also spit covered the ground in front of me.

"What's with the jaw abuse right now." I slurred, now angry, while getting up. Wally quickly stood in between me and the bitch. Normally I would have been glad at Wally stepping in but right now what ever I did to Arte, she deserved. 

"That's it! Calm down, we don't need fights in the small space of the ship. Get over yourselves before someone gets seriously hurt!" Wally practically shouted at us.

"She fucking kicked me!" Now it was my turn to shout. I stumbled back a few steps before fully standing still.

My anger at this point was definitely at the boiling point, as much as I tried I had to do something about Artemis and her attitude. Not that my attitude was much better.

"Wally now is not a good time to play the hero among friends," I continued with a warning and a bat-glare at the archer.

"Robin would you shut your beak for two seconds" Artemis smugly said. That fucker thought she was smart. Not like I hadn't heard that one before.

Wally tried to help but he knew he couldn't do anything. He stood his ground though.

"Miss M? Supes? Kaldur? Any help?" Wally pleaded. They all shrugged not wanting to deal with this. I guess this seemed like a normal occurrence now. If it wasn't me fighting with Artemis it was Wally.

I turned away from Artemis and looked at Wally. I could tell he really wanted this to stop, but that bitch started it, she can't back down now.

"Wally if you don't get out of the way right now I'll kill you then the whore of an archer!" I mumbled angrily.

"Rob! Arte! Go sit down now before I make you!" Wally growled which was definitely a surprise. For him to act like this was not natural and Artemis picked up on it. She went and sat down, but that want enough for me at this point I was out for blood.

"You can't do shit West, you know I can beat you!"

"Rob why the hell are you acting like this!"

"That fucking criminal started it!" I screamed nodding my head towards at Artemis. With that I went and sat back in my seat at the front of the ship. 

This definitely caught the attention of the rest of the team, they were probably talking to each other in the mind link. Great, now we can add their secret talks to whats annoying me.

The silence was deafening but also relaxing. As I calmed down a feeling of dread slowly rose in my throat, it was like all my energy drained from me and I fell to the ground from the chair. Because of my light body, no one seemed to hear, or they were all too into their own conversations to care. Breathing felt like knives and I was starting to get extremely light-headed.

The events of the night hit me all at once and I broke down. I could feel the unconscious creeping up on me the heavier I breathed. I have had panic attacks before but this one was different, it was terrible.

Artemis was the first to look over and see me struggling to breathe. I looked her in the eyes then blacked out slightly.

"Shit, shit, shit! Robin what's happening!" I heard her muffled voice. 'Ha, now she's being nice' I thought before going into a full panic.

Next thing I saw was the team surrounding me and Wally desperately trying to comfort me. Warm arms were wrapped around my shoulders and my head was rested on his chest. He ran his thin fingers through my hair and held me tight. He held me like this for a good few minutes not saying anything because he knew I wouldn't hear it. This isn't the first attack I've had in this presence.

"It's okay Rob, calm down, you're safe." He whispered sweetly, slightly loosening his grip. My breathing slowed for a second and I looked Wally in his green eyes. Suddenly, my mind was bombarded with images of the guy I killed again and my panic rose all over again. An overwhelming need to confess rippled through my brain and unintelligible words spurted from my trembling mouth.

"W-Wally I-I I did it! T-the-re was only t-two of us-s. I-I did it n-not s-s-someone e-else. I- did it. Oh My g-god" I sobbed shakily through thick breaths. Wally gave me a very confused look but continued to hold me tightly. He must think I've gone crazy.

"It's okay, we are all here" Wally mumbled into my hair as he placed his head on me. Its seems he decided not to reply to my shaky statement.

Shortly after I failed at admitting to murder, the blackness consumed me and I passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Robin's POV**

As I woke up I could automatically tell I was still on the ship. As to why I didn't know but seeming as I felt no movement we were landed. My heavy eyes flicked open to see no one was paying attention. Typical. I couldn't hear but I could just about see someone in the corner of the jet. Not exactly wanting to alert them of my waking just yet, I closed my eyes once more and attempted to listen. 

'Artemis ... Rob ... fighting. I don't know ... happened. Rob ... freaking out ... ... ... panic att...' a muffled voice spoke. I thought it through and decided it was Wally.

'Yeah, yeah he's fine. .......... No Batman sir. .......... He's just asleep now I will call you when he wakes. ............. Yeah, I'll talk with him it's fine. ........... Bye Bats!'

I waited for the conversation to be over before pretending to wake up for the first time. For a dramatic flair, I decided the best way to wake up was to sit up really fast...

I regret it.

I quickly forced my heavy body into a sitting position, a wave of nausea hitting me like a rhino's charge. A startled Wally came rushing over.

"Holy shit Robin, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Walls I was trying to be dramatic," I replied covering my mouth to push the nausea away.

"You feeling okay now? You still look pale." Wally remarked worried.

"Nah I'm okay KF just a feeling the results of sitting up to fast, it will pass in a second."

This caused a chuckle from Wally which made me smirk. His laugh is so contagious I think it's the reason all of the team is still sane. I returned a small smile.

Luckily I remembered all that happened before I passed out. Remembering how angry I was reminded me that I can't have a bad relationship with the team. I may be bored with the job, that doesn't give me a reason to be rude to my friends though.

"Is the team still here? I have some apologising to do." I said breaking the short silence.

"Yeah they should be but I need to talk to you first" Wally answered. He glanced to the door of the ship and back at my face. He looked sad, I knew it was nearly as hard on him as it was on my when he sees me like that. He seems to be the only one that cares for me these days. I looked up into his eyes and gave him a small smile.

"Umm okay? Let's talk then." I tried to act oblivious but my acting was not good enough apparently.

"What the hell happened on the ship? One minute you were all psycho and the next you were freaking out and mumbling something about there 'not being two people'. What were you on about Rob! It is the weirdest you've ever acted!" Wally spoke almost calmly but you could hear that he was worried.

"I don't know what happened Wally, that night was difficult for me it seems. I guess I took my anger out on you guys and I'm sorry but Artemis had no right to hit me!" I stated clearly agitated again. 

Damn it! I didn't mean to sound angry at him.

"Robin calm down. I wanted to talk not fight. Yeah, Arty has no right to hit you but you were being quite rude. This still doesn't explain why you went all panicky though."

"I just don't know it is freaking me out KF! I lost control and as for what I said I - I don't know. As far as I know, that has no meaning to me." I said trying to stay calm. "Can I go apologise to the team now so I can go home? I need to get back to look after the house while the big old bat is gone." I continued, looking for anyway to leave the conversation.

I stood up and started to leave the ship not even waiting for an answer. I needed to get away from all this hero crap for a bit but first I guess I do have to apologise.

I walked to the main room of the cave, Wally walking quickly behind me. Once I was at the entrance to the room I scanned it to see who was there.

Conner and Artemis were on the couch watching TV, M'gann was attempting to cook in the kitchen and Kaldur was nowhere to be seen. They all looked sad for some reason. I wonder what that could be about... Ha... God I'm funny... Not.

It seemed like they didn't notice me so I decided to make myself known.   
"What's going on here, some kind of pity party? Where is my invite, I'm highly offended." I smirked.

"Robin!" M'gann practically screamed, her face lighting up. M'gann and Conner made their way over to me, leaving Artemis looking guilty on the couch. "Are you okay now?" M'gann asked happily, her and Conner now directly in front of me.

"I'm fine, I hope I didn't offend anyone before I went all panicky. I guess I was just having an off day. I didn't mean it" I said halfheartedly. It wasn't exactly a lie, I would say killing someone was an off day.

After I said my piece Artemis, in complete silence came up to me and hugged me. I didn't hug back so she pulled away.

"I forgive you, by the way, I hope you forgive me for hitting you" she mumbled shyly, not looking me in the eyes.

"Don't worry Arty, I forgive you" I smirked, not truly meaning it. "Anyway, I gotta go back to Gotham, see ya soon" I continued, promptly walking to the Zeta beam.

_**(Skip to when Rob gets** **home** **)** _

**Robin's POV**

With a loud and over dramatic sigh I fell onto my bed.

"Glad that day was over with," I mumbled to myself as I sat myself up. Due to my lateness, I had to sit an Alfred lecture. He gets worried a lot and I understand but I was really not in the mood for a lecture.

I laid my head down on my soft white pillows, they engulfed my head like a cloud. I slowly closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Thoughts of the day crashed into my mind keeping me awake. I stared into the black abyss of my room. The combination of the unstoppable noise in my head and the silence of the room annoyed me to a breaking point.

I shot up into a sitting position and pulled on my hair. I felt like screaming but decided against it.

"Goddamn it let me sleep!" I whispered to myself. With my hands still wrapped up in you smooth black hair I let out a small weak sob. I felt so empty. 

By now Bruce should be back from patrol and I really don't want to have to put up with him right now. I slammed back into my pillows again and covered my head with my blanket.

In a moment of sweet clarity, my mind brought up a genius but also an extremely terrible idea.

An idea so stupid it could get me killed but also an idea so great it could save my sanity... sort of. Not really, I just wanted to do this for a while now or at least something similar.

Who is the king of insanity? The one-man even the worst criminals don't dare to speak of. The clown prince of crime himself.

The Joker.

I need to break him out of Arkham, if he wasn't out already, and I need to join him. He will most likely get me killed but, at this rate, I feel like I'm gonna be put with him in Arkham in a matter of months. Especially if they found out I killed that guy. Accident or not, its still a crime.

Not now though. I need to wait. Gain his trust before I even attempt this suicide mission. Also I need to play with my team more, I've gotta have some fun before I leave. 

Oh, this will be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

**Robin's POV**

A whole week went by after my mind decided to think of possibly the worst idea ever. Why my mind when straight to the worst person it could think of honestly scares me. Why couldn't I have chosen Condiment King or something?

I chuckled to myself while walking to the zeta beam. The idea of working with such a low-level villain amused me, but if you really want to surprise people, you have to aim straight for the top, right?

I wonder if the joker would be proud of my first kill? Probably not as it was so petty, still I can't even begin to imagine the smile on his face once he finds out that Robin killed someone. Actually no, imagine the smile he has when he sees that Robin is so stupid to let himself fall into his hands. Fuck, I'm dumb. I slowly walked into the old phone booth and waited for the weird technology to sense I was there.

The zeta beam approved my presence, and in a moment, I was at the mountain. The familiar cold air bit my skin as I took the first few steps into the main area of our living space. Generally, at this point, I would have swiftly walked to my room, only coming out for training and missions but today was the first day I would attempt to distance my self from the team. It may sound evil just to leave my friends, but this is something I need to do, I need to put my needs first for once.

With confident steps, I walked into the central area of the mountain. I was here early, so at this point only M'gann and Superboy were there. Surprised eyes latched onto me as I practically marched to the seats.

"Umm, hello, Robin. Nice to see you this morning" M'gann spoke, almost hesitantly. Superboy just stared for a few seconds before going back to doing whatever he always does.

"Great day isn't it M'gann!" I grinned way too cheerfully. I threw myself onto one of the couches and sighed deeply. The thick silence made me want just to run away and give up. I was stronger than this self-doubting thought, and it quickly faded from my messed up brain.

"It's just beautiful, great day for a mission or just a personal day. But us 'heroes' don't get personal days do we?" I smirked playfully. Now back to a cheerful persona, I was purposely trying to be weird, I wanted to have some fun before I left them.

"Are you okay, Robin?" Superboy asked. Very uncharacteristic for this little clone but I guess they have been training him well.

"I'm great. Wonderful even! You wanna know why?" I beamed.

"Okay go ahead" Superboy replied, visibly worried.

"I get to spend another day with all my friends doing what friends do" While the statement had a slight truth to it, I was slowly morphing into the actual little shit I am. I attempted to keep a fit of chuckles down, but instead, it came out as a slightly sinister cackle. I guess this is my personality now. I'm like a little Joker already, another thing to add to my 'please adopt me Mr. J' file.

Another silence plagued the room, and a few minutes went by before M'gann decided to speak up again.

"You are speaking as if you are gonna lose us" She replied cautiously, avoiding glancing over to me. This made me think that maybe I was going a little too far, I hated seeing M'gann sad, she was just such a pure personality. I snapped out of my stupid thoughts and answered.

"In our line of work you never know what gonna happen" I jumped up over-enthusiastically and skipped out of the room. I couldn't let doubt fill my mind.

I've already distanced myself from the group enough, I've been doing that for a while now it seems. Now I need to wait for the right situation to arise. The plan is to escape by somehow going missing, in this time I will have a good chat with my hopeful new friend. 

Batman, being too protective and all, will probably blame the team some way or another. One upside to this is that it takes a bit attention off me so I can slowly slip away and help the Joker escape. Assuming he will take my offer, that is.

It's a really complicated plan once you think of it, but life is no fun without a challenge. If my idea is terrible, it will fail, but its all I have with the little time I have left before my sanity completely goes.

My thoughts came to an end as I reached my room. I tiredly yawned and prepared to have a little nap. I hopped onto my rooms uncomfortable bed and let myself drift.

**_~Dream Start~_ **

Blood.

The unreal smell of blood filled my nose, I opened my eyes and tried to focus on my surroundings. 

Red.

The only colour that filled my vision, I rubbed my eyes violently but only red.

Silence.

I tried to scream but no matter how hard I strained my vocal cords no sound reached my lips.

Pain.

As if I was being sliced with razor blades, stinging spread over my body.

"I'm scared," a child's voice sounded. "Please, please help me-"

_**~Dream End~** _

My breathing quickened and I could feel the consciousness drifting in, a nightmare. Great. Totally what I wanted to have. At this point, I decided it's now or never to put my plan into action. I got up from the bed and went to do what I normally do in a day.

A few hours of people arriving and training went by, and the fateful mission was announced. I was first into the briefing room, which is very unnatural for me.

**_* a few minutes later (I'm too lazy to write out a briefing)*_ **

"Everyone got that?" Batman repeated, scowling at me. I guess he's noticed my weird behaviour as well. Can't fool a bat with my little plan, so I think I need to be a bit more careful. I gave him a big smile back and walked towards the ship. Did I really expect the world's greatest detective not to notice his own (adopted) son's stupid behaviour, was I really this dumb?

The mission was simple, protect a rich lady from some hit-men someone put on her. Her husband is most likely the one to have done it, but it's best not to mention that to the lady. Batman probably has drawn the same conclusion so I'll leave that part up to him, as usual.

I casually stepped to my respective seat on the ship. This is going to be a stressful twenty minutes. I could already feel the tension. This is good.


	5. Chapter 5

**Robin's POV**

"Okay, okay we get it" I spoke after the fifteenth time Kaldur explained the mission. The rest of the team, apart from Wally, shot me a dirty look so I just softly smirked back. I wasn't going to lie and say it didn't hurt to see their hate towards me, I know I'm the one doing this, but somewhere in my heart, it's still painful.

I could tell I was pissing Artemis off again, but at this point I was starting to worry again if doing what I'm about to do is a good idea. I wasn't going to back down, but I am throwing my entire life away on a silly phase that I'll probably regret as soon as the Joker get his claws into me. Do I seriously think that the Joker will go except me with loving arms as if I was a long lost child.

I would have to be crazy to think that.

Oh wait.. I laughed to myself a bit, hiding my face from the others.

The ship started slowing to a stop, and the door opened, landing on the grey tiled floor of the roof. In the close distance, a tanned woman stood looking very stern; she must be the lady we are meant to protect.

I inwardly cringed at how stupid it was for her to get on the roof of a building with no protection when there is a hit on her. As we got closer to her the stern look, she once had turned into a somewhat disappointed one.

"I was expecting members of the justice league not a group of sidekicks" The woman complained slyly. I don't think she knew we could hear her, but with us being 'heroes' and all I think we all heard it.

"Sorry to disappoint ma'am, I assure you this little group of sidekicks are just as good as a group from the league. Sadly they have to do actual missions so they will be unavailable today" I spoke as we approached her, the feeling of protectiveness for the team filled me with rage against this woman, I had to say something. She looked shocked. I mean I would be shocked if Robin of all people disrespected me.

"I apologise for Robin ma'am, and we don't like getting called sidekicks that's all" Kaldur assured the lady, glaring at me as he spoke. I waved my hand apologetically at the woman.

"No no it's alright I should be more grateful the league even took up my demand for help. Anyway I'm sure you all already know the details of what I hired you for" She spoke clearly. She looked us all up and down as if she was sizing us up. 'Well that was a bit creepy' I thought to myself with a small smirk. M'gann looked over to me with a questioning face, she obviously didn't see the woman's objective glances. 

"We have reviewed the case multiple times, and we can assure you, you will be safe. Batman himself is trying to find the person who has put you in this situation." Kaldur stated. At least we can guarantee this promise. I have to give it to the team, they are good, but still I couldn't help but think at how lost they would be without me.

"Anyway ma'am carry on with your normal life, we will follow you from a distance. Miss Martian here will act as your assistant today and stay by your side." Kaldur informed gesturing to M'gann when he mentioned her. M'gann gave a happy wave and smiled at the woman. She did not return this.

We started to head towards our respective places, but I remembered I was supposed to give her a comm. Why I forgot this amazed me, but I couldn't not give it to her, it's our only form of communication with her after all. You can't rely on M'gann all the time.

"Hey ma'am wait! I need to give you a comm-" I started to shout but was rudely interrupted by a sharp pain in my side. I quickly looked at the source, a glint of metal alerted me to the possible sniper in the building across from me. Well didn't he pick the perfect time to get a good shot. Not accurately to plan but I have to work with it.

"Rob!" I heard Wally shout as I crashed hard into the ground. I looked at where the pain was sprouting from and saw what looked like a clean shot straight through my hip. What the heck was the sniper aiming for? 

With Wally rushing to get me, the others when after the shooter. M'gann flew the woman into the ship and shut the door tight. Nothing could get her in there.

"Oh shit" I whispered, carefully patting my heavily bleeding wound. It hurt like hell but I need to get away before all of this was for nothing, I can't give up now. I painfully stood up, and I swayed where I stood. Surprisingly it's hard to stand after being shot; I couldn't tell if it was from my rapidly increasing blood loss or just the pain in general. It is going to be harder to get away now I'm injured.

"Robin, are you okay?" Wally quickly asked after he helped me stand. I hadn't noticed, but he had been trying to help me for a while now. Everything is going so very slow. I want to sleep. 

His worried eyes stared straight back into mine, flinching I staggered backwards, this caused Wally to grab for me. His tight grip hurt, but I'm glad I didn't fall.

"I'm good KF. I'll live" I stated as calmly as possible. I gently got out of his grip and stood still, I looked for a place to make my grand exit, but my blurred vision proved this difficult. If I was to stay any longer, I might pass out from blood loss, so I have to escape now.

Wally looked away seeming serious. He knew the team probably needed him but he clearly didn't want to leave me. I gave him a questioning look, and he put his hand on my shoulder lightly.

"Stay right here, Robin, you're going to be okay. I promise. Sit back down and put pressure on your wound. I need to help get the shooter I'll be back as quick as possible. Are you sure you're okay?" Wally asked again, obviously scared for me. I'm gonna miss him.

"Seriously I'm fine" I smiled at him. He gave me an unsure smirk and quickly zoomed in the direction of the shooter.

Almost immediately, I continued my search for a way out. My delirium from loss of blood causing me to panic. In the corner of my eye, I saw a small opening in the roof's railing. We were on the roof, but the building wasn't that tall, so even if I missed my grapple, I could still survive. It seems this way the only option I have. I can't give up on my plan. I can't stay any longer.

With the rest of the team busy, I slowly staggered backwards. Every step was agony, but I had to keep going. With a final step, I fell into the rusted bars of the side of the roof. Their cold touch made me shiver. A bright red trail of blood followed the path I took. I'm going to die if I don't do something.

'Maybe it is better if I stay here...' a fading thought passed my mind. No. There is no way I am backing down after all the planning I had done. This is my only real chance.

Realising that leaving a trail of blood is not helpful when you are trying to get away, I grabbed a thick bandage from my belt. Instead of putting it on properly I just shoved a bit of the medical fabric in each side of the wound. I nearly made a noise from the pain but was able to hold it back. I felt even worse than before from the blood loss, and I was losing the precious time I had before I could no longer escape let alone move.

One last check of my surroundings proved it was safe to leave, no one to stop me.

"See you soon team" I slurred to myself before jumping from the roof.

**Kid Flash's POV**

The sniper got away, after all that searching the sniper god damn got away. I do admit my mind was a little preoccupied with thinking about if Robin was okay. I mean, he was shot. Badly.

I ran back to the place I had left Robin as fast as I could. I expected to see him laying down or standing in the same spot he was before, but he was gone, just gone.

I scanned the grey floor looking for any sign of the young hero. A glinting red caught my eye — a blood trail, leading to the edge of the building. I rushed over and almost slipped in the little bird's blood. He must have went to the side for support and fell through the rails, and he would never survive a fall like that with the condition he was in. At least I think he wouldn't. Oh god I hope he survived.

"Robin!" I shouted in a panic. I looked over the bars and saw nothing but a small splattering of blood in the white walls of the building. He wasn't there.

"Rob, where are you? I need you to call back!" I tried again but to no avail. I started frantically searching for anything that could lead me to the little acrobat. I think I searched the entire building ten times before the rest of the team arrived back at the room where the ship was. I ran until all my energy was drained. What happened to him? What do I do?

Remembering we had the comms I attempeted to call him through those. "Robin, come in! Please tell me you are alright" I frantically sputtered as my energy drained further. "Robin. Please!" I tried one last time.

I dropped to the ground with exhaustion, I was breathing heavy, but I was glad of that as it was hiding the slight tears in my eyes. Robin was gone, just gone.

"Kid Flash? What's going on, where is Robin?" Artemis asked, scanning the area. She put her hand on my shoulder, obviously noticing my distress. I hadn't even heard her approach but I'm guessing the entire team heard what I said on the comm.

"He's gone" I whispered just loud enough for her to hear. She looked over at the rest of the team, and they seemed to know what was going on automatically. Scared looks plastered on the rest of the teams face. Yes, Robin had been a little shit as of late, but that doesn't mean we care about him any less. He is like our little brother, and now he is injured and lost, and I can't help but to think It's my fault. It is my fault. I left him alone.

"We have to find him" Superboy spoke up loudly.

"I've looked everywhere. The trail ends at the edge over there. I can't find him" I don't know precisely why I was acting this way. I mean he is my best friend, but Dick is smart, he's going to be okay. Hopefully. Surely!

"We will call the league. Don't worry Kid Flash we will find him" Kaldur reassured helping me to my feet. I just smiled sadly and followed them onto the ship.

If anyone can find Robin, it would be Batman, so I guess he is the first one to call. Definitely going to enjoy telling Batman, we lost his son and that he got shot and may be bleeding to death. Might have to prepare me a coffin because this won't go down well.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wally's POV**

I sank to the cold floor of the ship; it almost felt like the world was crumbling around me. He's gone. Robins gone. Well it's not confirmed, but he's human he can't survive the drop he fell from. I don't want to be the ultimate downer, but his chances are slim, and I can't help to believe that it's all my fault. I left him, bleeding, alone. I put my hands over my face and started to wipe away my sad expression.

After what felt like a long flight, we finally landed back at the mountain. I took a deep breath as I stepped off the ship, the humid air filled my lungs, only making me more anxious about what I have to do.

"Wally, I'll tell Batman if you want?" M'gann smiled as she stepped ahead. She could probably feel the panic radiating off of me. It was a nice gesture, but this was my fault, I have to take responsibility. 

"No. I have to do it, no matter how scared I am. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left him alone" I sadly said, looking down at my feet.

Suddenly the tension in the air grew thick, and I felt a dark looming presence that seemed to come from the entrance of the hanger.

"What's your fault Kid Flash?" A deep voice sounded. I looked up hesitantly and saw none other than Batman himself. Damn he has impeccable timing.

I stumbled as I took a step to face him.

"Kid Flash what happened? Where is Robin?" Batman repeated. If I didn't know Batman, I would think he was just cold and collected, but I could almost feel the worry radiating off of him. Even if he is known as unemotional, he can't keep his composure when its to do with Robin.

"Batman, I'm sorry Robin got shot. I swear I only left him for two minutes, but when I came back, he wasn't there. I looked everywhere. No trace, no trace at all of where he went." I said panicked. I still wouldn't meet his eyes, but the burning sensation on my skin proved he was glaring.

"Let me get this right... You left Robin after he was shot, you left him all alone, bleeding out. Do you understand how unbelievably stupid that was! Not only that, you left the scene without calling a single member of the league. You are right; it is your fault. If Robin dies it on you, all of you. If it were up to me, all of you would be banned from the team!" Batman practically shouted. Like I said, no composure when it come to the little bird. 

For most of the team, this is the first time they have ever heard Batman raise his voice like this. Batman is even more scary when he is emotionally unstable, in my opinion. That's why smart villains know not to mess with Robin.

"We understand Batman sir. What would you like us to do?" Kaldur asked, defeated. He stood tall, but even Kaldur seemed a little terrified of Batman. 

"You've done enough. I'm going to find Robin. You will all either stay here or go home, your choice. I will discuss the fate of the team with the rest of the league later." Batman sternly glared. He walked quickly to the zeta beam and with a flash he was gone.

Sighs of relief spread across the room but shortly after worried looks for Robin appeared.

All I know no one is leaving the mountain until Robin is returned. 

**Robin's POV**

Slowly I opened my left eye. Blurry shapes filled my vision, but it didn't disorientate me to the extent I thought. My right eye was glued shut with what I must assume is blood which must mean I somehow hit my head at some point. I reached up with my trembling hands to feel for the source of the blood. A deep gash along my hairline proved my prior thoughts. This could also link to my lack of eyesight, wouldn't it be great to add a concussion to my list of injuries.

I pushed up from the cold floors and attempted to take in the surrounding in my field of limited vision. I'm in some building as I heard rain but never felt it.

"Shit" I whispered as I struggled to sit up. My heavy breathing reminded me of the injuries I sustained.

"How on earth am I still alive?" I yet again whispered to myself. Suddenly a loud bang crashed through the unidentified building. I tried to move backwards in attempt to find a corner but at my slow pace, and that I'm barely moving at all, guaranteed I wouldn't find one. 

My impending doom frightened me. All I could think of was: What's going to happen next? What was that bang? Why the hell did I even do this in the first place?

My stream of thoughts was struck silent as a loud gasp sounded at a distance. I frantically looked around but only saw streams of light. I obviously looked panicked, and I could tell that this person noticed. Soft footsteps pattered in my direction, and I felt a cold nose on my face. I really hope that's not a human.

"Atlas! Let him be. He is hurt!" A male voice shouted, accompanied with more light steps and some heavy ones as well.

The creature licked my face and my vision slightly cleared. Well it cleared enough for me to see what the animal was. Two centimetres from my face were big blue eyes staring at me. It took a second for it to click, but I eventually deduced it was a husky.

The dog backed away, and I took in the whole picture. Right in front of me was two dogs and a rather scared-looking man. With quick steps, he strode closer to me.

"Robin. You're Robin, right? My god you're really hurt. How do I contact Batman? No, you need a hospital. Wait hospitals are a no right? What do I do!" The man said, very panicked. Finally calming down myself, I was able to focus my vision entirely. 

The man looked at me with his worried dark brown eyes. His pale brown hair looked messy from his hands continuously raking through it. I stared at him in silence as I was attempting to focus. When I didn't answer, he started blabbering again.

"Can you not speak? Oh god, how did you get here? Where did you-" He started before I cut him off.

"No, Batman. No Hospital. Just leave me I'll be gone in an hour" I breathed heavily. It hurt to speak a lot more than I thought which didn't calm the man's frantic state at all. The two dogs stood wagging their tails trying to comfort their owner, but it wasn't working.

"I can't just leave you! At least let me help you. I have a medical degree I can patch you up?" The man offered brightly. I slowly looked away so I could think.

I did need the help, but could I trust him? I looked back up, decided on what should happen.

"Okay, but the mask stays on." I sternly, or as sternly a half-dead seventeen year old could get, voiced.

"Great. I'm Cameron Barnes. I know who you are, obviously. Not who you actually are but. Well. Never mind. I'll be back in a sec; I should have a first aid kit here somewhere." He rambled again. 

With him off searching for a medkit, I turned my full attention to his dogs. The brown and white husky, which name I learned was Atlas, stared at me wagging its fluffy tail. I decided to give in to the cuteness and attempted to call them over. 

With a small wave of my hand, both dogs came trotting up. It hurt to reach, but I couldn't not pet them. The other dog looked like a German Shepard, but it was pure black, so I didn't honestly know. I lifted my hand for it to sniff ad it gave me a nuzzle of approval. 

I noticed a small collar hidden by the dog's dense fur. Getting curious I hunted for a name tag and found a small metal plate with an engraving.

"Creed. Well hello, Creed and Atlas" I smiled as both dogs laid down next to my legs. Probably not best on their part as they are now covered in my blood.

"Found it!" Cameron shouted. He walked into the room and noticed the now crimson dogs. "Damn you're bleeding bad. Dogs will need to have a bath now too" He calmly stated probably in doctor mode now.

He knelt next to me and got to work cleaning my wounds. I didn't notice, but my eyes started drooping. I quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

Guess my life is in his hands. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Robin's POV**

Awareness flooded my brain again as my eyes slowly drifted open. A profound numbness gilded throughout my body; I genuinely felt nothing. If I could sit up and look around, I would have, but everything felt so heavy I just couldn't be bothered to make an effort.

In my immediate field of vision, I saw dark grey walls and a somewhat hospital looking room. Attached to my arm was a drip for what I guess was both fluids and a heavy dose of morphine. The only thing that gave it away that it wasn't a hospital was the normal-looking bed and the faint television sound from another room.

I slightly moved my feet and was surprised to find a warm mass at the end of the bed. Carefully I peered over to the strange entity. Familiar blue eyes stared back into mine. 

"Atlas," I barely whispered. My raspy voice begged for water, but I was too relaxed to even look for any. 

The large husky wiggled its way carefully up the bed and softly sniffed my face. I smiled back fondly, as I did all the memories of what happened came flooding again. With all the strength I possessed, I reached and yanked what I could assume was the pain killer drip out. Atlas sniffed where the needle had been and softly snuggled into my side. I placed my hand upon his soft, dense fur and drifted back to sleep. For some reason, I felt safe, or I just really like dogs.

\-----

A little while later I woke up again this time to a throbbing in my injured side. I no longer had Atlas snuggled at my side, but from the slightly warm patch, I could tell he had not been gone very long. The pain killers had definitely worn off at this point, but to be entirely honest, it didn't hurt that bad until I moved.

As I slid my sluggish body up the headboard of the bed, a sharp pain startled me. I let out a small cry and gripped my side tight. 

"Goddamn it that hurt" I croaked quietly, my throat still raw from lack of hydration. 

Now I was slightly sat up. I glanced across the grey room. The room was basically empty besides the bed and the medical equipment. From the single bed I sat I searched the area, my eyes finally landing on a small cup of water and a note on a table beside the bed. Thirstily I grabbed the water and drank it down quick. Feeling a bit more refreshed, I picked up the small note.

I cleared my throat and began reading out loud in a slurred voice, "Hello Robin, I don't know when you'll wake up, but I thought I would leave a note anyway. I just took my dogs out for a walk; I'll be back in less than an hour. If you don't remember what happened, I will fill you in when I get back and don't worry your mask is still on! From Cameron."

I completely forgot about the mask and quickly reached up to feel for it. Just like the note said it was still there. I really had to hand it to Cameron; he is very good at keeping his word.

As if on cue I heard a distant click of a locking door. Almost instantaneously two big dogs came bounding into the room.

"Hey Atlas, hey Creed" I smiled as they both greeted me.

"Be careful, boys!" I heard someone shout from another room. Suddenly an out of breath Cameron appeared around the door frame.

"Oh Robin you're awake! Thank God!" Cameron beamed. Regaining his composure, he came over to the side of the bed.

"How long was I out?" I asked through my still croaky voice. 

"Only about two days, I thought you would be out longer with that injury, but you are a strong one" He laughed lightly. "I need to do a couple of check-ups if that's alright? You know, make sure you are actually okay." He continued as he started pulling back the bandage on my wound.

"Yeah, that's okay, I need to get back on my feet as soon as possible," I replied quickly. I do need to leave, and I can't let this simple injury be the reason I turn back on my mission.

With confirmation, he continued pulling back the bandage to inspect his stitches. The clean straight stitches looked perfect, and there was no sign of infection, so he just re-bandaged my wound and smiled at me.

"I have no reason to keep you here if you feel good enough to leave." He replied kindly, I think he could sense my urgency to go. A sudden feeling of guilt struck me. This man saved my life, and I'm just going to leave and never see him again. In a quick decision, I decided to stay for a little while longer.

"I'll stay for a couple more hours. I need to wake up a bit more before I can leave" I softly smiled back.

"That's great! That means you can stay for dinner!" He excitedly exclaimed. "I hope you like take out because I can't cook very well" He laughed as he made his way to the door of the room.

"I'm fine with anything, thanks" I said back quietly. With that, he left the room, leaving me with both the dogs which stared up at me happily.

"I'm gonna miss you guys" I whispered to the dogs, placing my hand on Creed's soft ears. Atlas came up and licked my hand, so I stroked his head too. 

Feeling a slight bit tired again, I decided to lay back in the warm bed. Creed slowly padded out the room, but Atlas jumped up on the bed and settled down on my feet. My eyes grew heavy, and I slowly drifted off to sleep again.

\------------

About an hour later I woke up to Atlas jumping off the bed. I guess Cameron is home. I gently lifted myself up from the position I was laying in, this time with a little less pain.

Cameron appeared around the doorway with a white takeaway bag.

"I hope you like Chinese; it was the only place that was open." He said, walking into the room. I just nodded not feeling like speaking again.

"Well, let's eat!" He exclaimed, sorting out the food. He stayed in the room, and we ate together in silence. Being entirely honest I'm going to miss this dude when I leave. It's doubtful I would ever come back. 

I smiled to myself, deciding just to savour this moment. This is probably going to be the last sane moment for a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Kid Flash's POV**

Two days, technically three, is how long Robin had been gone. Confined to my house by my uncle Barry left me helpless. I couldn't do anything to help. All I wanted to do was fix my mistake, find my best friend. 

Find Robin.

Considering how long he had been gone and the injuries he had sustained not many had faith he is still alive. Most of the league have gone from the mindset of finding a live person to finding a corpse. They gave up to easily.

A blood trail was found, at least I heard. It led to an old warehouse. A lot of blood was in that warehouse but no Robin. They couldn't find the owner to the warehouse either. No one was listed.

From there the trail went cold. No blood. No struggle. No body.

Nothing.

I had to live with the guilt that I possibly left my best friend to die. I told him he would be fine, I lied to him. The last thing I said was a lie. How could I live with this?

I looked pathetic. Sitting in my room crying non-stop. I hadn't left my room since I was told I couldn't help. Robin would think I'm rather pathetic at this moment. The rest of the team were worried but I never answered their calls. I just wanted to find him.

Dead or alive.

**Robin's POV**

Fully awake and slightly out of it from the painkillers; I swung my legs over the small single bed I had been in for the past two days. While I was grateful to the man that saved me, it was definitely time for me to leave.

As soon as I put weight on my legs I almost stumbled over. Cameron who had been sitting watching me for the last five minutes shot up to help stabilise me.

"Until those painkillers wear off you are going to be a bit shaky" He said with a smile on his face. 

I gripped tightly onto his arm as I found my footing.

"Yeah, I'll get over it quick" I replied with a small chuckle. I hesitantly loosened my grip on his arm as I made my way over to my neatly folded costume.

I looked at him as to question why he would go through the trouble to clean it. A knowing look shone in his eyes.

"I wanted to do one last thing before you before you left. Luckily the blood came out easily, I didn't have anything to fix the hole in the side though." He explained, taking a step back from me as I was now standing perfectly on my own.

"You didn't have to do this but thank you"

He nodded and left the room so I could get dressed.

As I was painfully putting my costume on I realised how weird it would look to be just walking around in daylight as Robin. Also not to mention how quickly I would be spotted by the league. My brain decided almost as quickly as my original thought that I had to modify my costume.

Keeping only the gloves, my boots and my belt, I searched through the small closet in the room I had been in. Not many clothes were in there but two items definitely caught my eye. A tight, black, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. Of course both items were a little big but they are better than nothing.

After I was clothed, I took a couple of second to regain my composure before I exited the small room. Even with the slight buzz of painkillers still in my system; pain could still be felt with every step. I could feel the movement of the agitated stitches on both sides of my body, the pulling of my skin was bearable though. I've been through worse.

Following me to the front door of Cameron's apartment was his two dogs. I would definitely miss them both.

As the brown haired man came into my vision I smiled.

"Cameron, I hope you don't mind but I'm taking these clothes. You can throw the suit. Or keep it. Its up to you" I confidently said as I walked closer to the door.

Clearly a little startled he jumped when I spoke.

"I didn't hear you come into the room damn" He laughed. "That's fine, take what you need. You sure I can keep the costume?" He continued with a questioning tone.

"Seriously, thank you and yes I'm sure" I replied. "I must go now, I have to continue some... stuff" 

"Okay Robin, It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope if we meet again its in better circumstances." He smiled petting the husky, Atlas, on the head.

I turned the handle of the door and went to step out but I was abruptly stopped by tug on my hand. The black dog Creed had gently grabbed my hand with his mouth. It was as if he was also saying goodbye.

"See you, Atlas, Creed." I smiled while softly stroking Creed's ears.

With that I left.

**Batman's POV**

Silently I sat in the bat-cave out of costume. I had gone over everything, there is no way I had missed a single detail. Why was finding Robin so hard? As I raked my brain I heard the footsteps of someone coming down the steps to the main area of the cave.

"Master Bruce, you have not slept for the past two days. Really, I know you want to find Master Dick, as I do too, but really you need to think about your health as well" Alfred said in a worried tone as he walked over to my computer station. 

Without looking at the elderly man I stood up and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I can't have a repeat of what happened to Jason, I can't. So soon as well. I don't know what I would do." I admitted sadly.

"Master Bruce, I am not going to promise anything here but Master Dick is strong. You know that. We will find him" The grey haired butler replied. "Now go to sleep Master Bruce, you need to be at 100% tomorrow so you can find him" He continued as he walked back over to the stairs of the bat-cave.

With a defeated nod I followed him up into the manor. Without another word or glance I made my way to my room. Alfred was right, if I became too sleep deprived I could miss important details.

I know I'll find him, I have to find him. If not for his sake or mine, for his parents. Imagine what they would say if I let their son die. I hate to even think of it. After they died I was entrusted with his life practically and I was already endangering him by letting him be Robin.

One Robin has already left this world, I can't loose another.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't great but I can't be bothered to change it... sorry xD

**Robin's POV**

I had been wandering for a day by now, at least I think I have. I mean the sun went down, I slept on a bench and then the sun came up. I would have checked everything if I hadn't realised that as soon I was to turn on my phone it would send my location to the team. So I had no way of telling where I was or what time it is. Luckily it seemed that before I went on the mission I turned off/ took out the rest of the trackers. I just had to keep walking, or in my case, limping until I recognised something.

I seemed to remember that the mission I was on before this was somewhere near Gotham so that was a start but it must have been quite far out as I had no recognition of this area. Either I hadn't been there of I'm just being stupid. 

The pain from my wound seemed to become worse every step I took but for some reason I kept walking. I could so easily give up but at this point the thought of explaining this seemed like more of a death sentence than actually meeting the joker. Not only the pain from my wound was hurting though but slowly dehydration and hunger was setting in.

I looked around the small residential road I was on. The cobble path bare of all life and the road much the same. That was until my luck doubled. The soft headlights of a bus in the distance filled my sight. I picked up my speed and saw just over the hill was a dimly lit bus stop. 

In a hurried pace I made it to the bus. The grumpy looking driver seemed to notice me and stay at the stop until I arrived. I painfully stepped up onto the small vehicle.

"Hello sir, where is this bus going?" I asked out of breath but politely.

"Gotham, kid. You wanna go there? I doubt you actually do" He replied in a monotone voice almost rolling his dark green eyes.

"That's exactly where I need to go, how far is it?" I smiled as I asked again.

"Not to far, it will be $5. You got that kind of money? You don't look as if you have any" He said looking at me up and down. I instantly pulled all the money I had in my emergency pouch of my belt which was concealed under my shirt. I quietly counted out five of the like fifty ones I had.

"Where'd you get that kid? You steal it?" He judged again as I handed the money over.

I just smiled to him and walked to the back of the empty bus. Feeling tired from the practical run to this bus I let my eyes close.

When I opened my eyes next it was due to the bus driver shouting. I looked around to see darkness. I guess it was night again.

I wanted to just sleep again, I was exhausted for no reason it would seem, but I was woken up by the driver again.

"Kid we are in Gotham, you either get off now or pay more and we go to the next stop." He said also sounding rather exhausted himself. I sluggishly pulled myself off the uncomfortable seat. I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes and practically glared down the bus.

"Okay, I'll get off" I replied with a hoarse voice as I slowly walked up the bus. "You wouldn't happen to have any water on you sir?" I asked in continuation. The scratchiness of my throat almost hurt. Had it really been this long since I had a drink?

"Yeah I have some, I guess you can have it. Considering you will probably be murdered as you are a kid alone in Gotham" He joked as he handed me the bottle water he had in a compartment next to his seat. "Good luck kid"

"Thanks!" I smiled enthusiastically, ignoring his comment before, as I hobbled off the bus, as soon as I left the doors they slammed shut and the bus started speeding off. 

Now recognising the area I walked to a safe looking place and chugged down the water I was given. I would have probably been better to save it but I was so dehydrated I couldn't think properly.

After practically inhaling the water I continued to struggle to walk around. Realising exactly where I was immediately scared me. Of course my stupid luck would put me here. Fucking less than a mile away from the goddamn Wayne Manor! Considering around the time I thought it was I was in trouble.

Or was I really? I could just let him find me and this could all be over. Yes, it would be hard to explain this situation. Yes, I would continue to be bored and practically depressed. But, at least I would be safe and I could get my wound properly treated.

I looked into the distance and saw the far away silhouette of the bat heading towards the manor. I caught the urge to shout out to him in my throat. Not like he would have heard anyway but I couldn't bring myself to alert him in any way. I have said this one million times but it was almost as if I had to convince myself at this point not my abandon my self set mission.

My breathing suddenly picked up as I was thinking, in an attempt to calm down I darted around the nearest corner. I slid down the damp brick wall and calmed down. There must be something really wrong with me. First, I break down after literally murdering a guy, accident or not, then the simple sight of the big mean bats excavates my lungs. I needed some serious help. Help I wasn't going to get because I am way too stubborn to admit that my plan was suicide.

I slid back up the wall and composed myself before following the totally not dangerous looking alleyway. Totally not dangerous... ha, i'm funny... yeahh... I'll shut up now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Robin's POV**

My life had been a mess recently. I have gone from living a privileged life at day and a hero at night, to a sad injured homeless boy in one of the worst place of all. 

Gotham.

Currently I was sat in a cold damp alleyway, trying my hardest to wake up from my tired state. Luckily sleeping was easy but every day it was getting harder to wake up. 

At this point, no matter how hard I tried to keep it clean, my wound was getting infected. That wasn't the reason for me not waking though, at least I didn't think it was. Its just over the few days I've been living rough in Gotham food has been scarce. I had to conserve the little money I had.

In my time in Gotham I had manage to wander to the poorer parts. This may seem like a mistake but my goal to find the joker was still there, hanging by a thread but still there. I had purposely walked to the place with the highest joker sightings in the last few months. After asking the locals a few questions, in which they reluctantly gave me the answer to, I had found out the joker was definitely not in Arkham. At least I didn't have to break him out. That's hard enough without an infected injury.

I pushed myself up the rough wall I was leaning on, the top of my neck getting all scraped up.

"Shit" I murmured in a hushed tone. It may have been quiet to me but in a silent alley sound carries.

"What do we have here?" A disgusting rough voice spoke just around the corner from the end of this cold alley. From around the corner an older man, maybe around his fifty's, creeped out. His dirty clothes smelt even from the good three meter distance we had between each other.

I looked into his dark eyes and attempted to back up slowly. Pain shot through my wound and I visibly winced. 

"Looks like someone is a little hurt ay? You need some help" The man said with a dangerous look in his eyes. A foul smirk appeared on his aged face. He took one step closer to me which prompted me to reach my hand down to wear I thought my belt was, after absentmindedly feeling for it and pointing my unfocused eyes to the same area, I came to the realisation it wasn't there.

I looked back at the mans face to see his smirk had turned into a sickening smile. I would say the joker would be jealous but this smile was completely different, it was almost perverted. He saw the worry on my face and licked his dried up lips. "Looking for this? You know you sleep like you're dead boy. This belt is nice though, looks almost like the ones those bats use. You would't happen to be that delicious Robin would you?" He continued stepping closer with a knowing look.

Guessing from what he is saying he also found my mask. Shit. Fuck. Why is my luck so bad...

"Sir, please I mean no trouble i'll leave" I said trying to deflect the situation as I continued to back up, until I hit a wall. Why the hell is my life such a cliche right now!

"Little Robin... Little Grayson. You are no trouble at all, with skin as smooth as yours you are welcome here any day. Well for a price that is."

What the heck, why does this happen to me? I'm not stupid I know what he wants and it certainly isn't money. I slid down the alley wall and practically accepted my defeat. He steps got quicker toward me and he let out a dark chuckle.

While sat on the cold floor my hands felt around for anything I could use to protect myself. As his steps got dangerously close, my search got more frantic. Violently I scrapped my hand on the rough surface below trying, just trying to find something. Not once did I break my eye contact with the man though at this point his face was blurred. I was dissociating. My mind knew that if I couldn't stop him now something really bad would happen. In a stroke of luck my hand slid across what I assume was a piece of glass from a broken bottle.

As If I was suddenly possessed my body moved on its own. The adrenaline of the situation giving me the strength to stand. I gripped the glass tightly in my hand, tight enough that it was bleeding badly. I stared at the man's blurred face and in one quick motion I slashed his throat. 

I lent my now trembling body against the wall behind me. The mans disgusting hands reached up to his thick throat and as he attempted to speak blood spluttered from his mouth and onto my face. I didn't have the energy to wipe it off, just like I didn't have the energy to push the man off as he fell forwards only me.

I just sat there. The man bleeding out onto my shaking self.

**Batman's POV**

I had a lead on where Robin was, a massive one. CCTV footage on a bus picked up someone who looked like him travelling to Gotham. The face detection system took a while to find this footage as the bus camera was very outdated and the video was distorted massively. We found the driver for that night and I interviewed him. Which of course confused the poor man. Imagine Batman just jumping on your bus and pulling you out for a 'talk'.

He said he remembered the night but only briefly spoke to the boy. Apparently he needed to go to Gotham but didn't give a reason. The driver suspected him as a pickpocket due to the weird amount of money he had for how ill and homeless he looked. He also mentioned that the kid seemed very tired, dehydrated and injured. He was limping like crazy the man said, it was painful to see.

He was right about it being painful to see. If that really was Dick, he had to have been in agony.

After he got off the bus, which was only half a mile away from the manor, there is no more trail. 

I had called the team and the entire league to search the entire of Gotham. This worried the citizens a lot but I didn't care. I must do absolutely anything to find Robin.

**Kid Flash's POV**

While running through the streets of Gotham the only thought I had was that I knew Robin was alive, I fucking knew it.

I was getting tired quick, due to have been running around ever since Batman told us the news. The league gave up on finding him to quickly originally, so to make up for that they were searching hard too.

So far nothing was found. A few crimes had been stopped but no Robin was found.

Until.

I ran too a place I had been ten times over but noticed something I missed before. A narrow alleyway. Not expecting to find anything I ran through it at incredible speed. It seems that was a mistake though as I lost my footing and slipped on something wet and ran straight into a wall.

"Ah shit that was embarrassing" I mumbled to myself, hopping off the ground and starting to look down at what I slipped in.

That's when the realisation hit me. 

It was blood.

Laying on the ground was a slightly chubby man, with a seemingly cut throat.

"Oh fuck"

I knelt down. Even though I knew he was definitely dead I still went to check his pulse. Finding nothing, as I expected, I turned him over. 

My heart dropped as I saw his face. Not because I knew him but because...

He was laying on Robin's mask. His belt also loosely splayed underneath his stomach.

What the fuck.

Robin had been here! But where was he now. 

I took in my surroundings and while I saw mostly dark damp brick walls, a lack of blood was really what caught my attention. His throat was cut there should have been way more blood. It was almost as if something had soaked it up.

What the hell happened here and what the hell had it to do with Robin?

Coming to my senses I hit my comm.

"Kid Flash to well anyone that can get here quick. I found Robin's mask and belt! Not Robin himself sadly. They have been crudely splayed under a dead guy. Ping my location. I have no clue where I am" I speedily shouted into the comm.

The flash appeared first of course and gave me an awkward smile. Soon the rest of everyone crammed into the small alleyway.

Batman gave me a nod of approval and told everyone to leave. He was going to analyse the scene.

"Kid Flash, how much have you tampered with the scene?" Batman asked quietly trying not to sound like he was mad. I could tell he wasn't but it was nice that he was actively trying to be nice.

"I slipped on the blood. That's how I found it. I also turned the man on his back. He was lying on his front at first." I explained. "Batman, would it be good to know that the body was still slightly warm before I turned it?" I continued with my extremely valid question.

"Yes that helps a lot, that means he can't be far from here. You can go home now Wally. Thanks. Seriously."

Did Batman just thank me? Never mind that, I was very tired. I just smiled at him and sped off back home. 

Batman will find him. If Batman can't, no one can.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing gets a bit better from now on :)  
> Hope y'all like. :P  
> Also the name Lammergeier is after my favourite bird the bearded vulture ;)

** ~ 2 years later ~ **

**Dick Grayson's POV**

If there was something I learnt in my days as Robin that would be being quiet is the most integral part of a mission. I wish though that some times I would listen to myself and not be so stupid to give in to my urges to kill some one outside the place I was meant to hide out. It's not my fault the guy came up behind me unprovoked. I didn't know that I had company other than who I was hired to protect. Now i'm trapped in a situation where the little kiddy league is searching for me. 

I had be hired to protect a group of small time drug dealer as they were aware they might be on a few radars. They paid me way too much to protect them so I couldn't exactly deny. Also this job had a small but exciting twist.

... flashback ...

"Here, five hundred-thousand, please Lammergeier. We need help. They will find us." A rather over weight man pleaded while handing over a thick and heavy case over to me. 

Somehow this man got my hideout address so I guess I should humour him, i thought while going to sit down at the desk in the warehouse I was based in.

"hmm, whats the job?" I replied with no emotion. I was bored. No good jobs had appeared recently. Its always the same. Kill this person. Protect this person. Who knew this would almost be as boring as being a hero. Only perk I guess is that I have free will and no rules.

"We have people after us, we have a big drug drop off planned and we think the police know. If we don't do this though we will all die. A guy with a lot of power wants these and if we don't get this money we'll go bankrupt." The man spewed again walking towards the desk and reaching out to touch my arm. This fucking greasy man touched me.

I slapped his arm away and stood up quick. He looked down as if to apologise and I relaxed my posture and sat back down. One rule I have that is so simple, why does no one follow it.

"Who wants these drugs ay?" I asked now calmed down again. I was genuinely curious who scared this man so much to come directly to me. I mean it was well known that I didn't care who I killed. Anyone, anything, anytime.

The man looked up at my face again before awkwardly looking at the modern interior of my warehouse. Looked more like a home than a simply base but I digress.

"I would prefer not to say." He replied after his long pause. I gave him a look that made him shiver.

"Oh come on you can tell me. I would like to know who i'm getting involved with" I replied with a small smirk on my face. He just stared into my eyes and gulped.

"Bruce Wayne"

In seconds of hearing that name I laughed the hardest I had in a while. The man looked at me as if I had killed his puppy but my laughter continued.

"Sorry to tell you this man but that is definitely a set up. Or Brucie has finally gone off the deep end" I said in between my laughter. With a couple of deep breaths though I was back in my calm state.

"I'll help you but don't count on getting your money. It would be best to get the drugs and sell them to some other buyer." The man looked at me weirdly but seemed to understand the point.

"Thanks so much. I'll tell the rest of the group and get them to send the details" He said with a genuine smile. This only made me want to laugh more. 

Obviously either Red Hood or Deathstroke sent this man here as a joke knowing I wouldn't be able to not take the job. I knew this as they were the only two other than the Joker I trusted with the location of my base and good old Mr. J wouldn't do such a thing.

That also means one other thing. I couldn't let this man leave...

He hurried quick and texted his team. He looked up and smiled before waddling his way to my door. I waited a moment, well at least until his hand was planted on the handle of the door, before my gun happened to fire directly into his thick skull.

...

My mind went over exactly how I got into this situation again. 

"Stupid trigger finger" I cursed under my breath.

Honestly I should have known that if this was Wayne related there would be some form of hero attending. I had hoped it would be the bat himself as foiling his plans brought me great pleasure, but no, not today, this stupid team I founded had ruined my night.

After shooting this man who snuck up behind me I heard young voices, including the voice of that new Robin. Damn Bats liked to get over things quick. It was the younger team it seemed. The new generation of heroes! 

Today I was plagued with the pursuit of beast boy, impulse, blue beetle and robin. How fun...

I jumped up and climbed into the rafters of this small and old building. Where I was totally wasn't stable but I didn't weigh too much. I looked down into the building and saw that the people I was meant to protect had all be captured an tied up. I couldn't help but let out a simple laugh. The man shouldn't have given me the money before the job. I got paid and did absolutely nothing other than kill one of their men. 

Some one must had heard my small laugh though as the team looked up not moments after.

As the building was quite tall and I was at the top I sadly couldn't hear what they were saying but I took it as my que to leave. As I exited through a hole in the roof I was stopped by a familiar weapon flying right next to my hand. I turned my head slowly the see none other than Robin standing next to the little speedster.

"Stop right there!" Impulse shouted as I stood up. Robin just stood and stared at my red and black outfit. It was clear he was trying to figure me out.

"You are that mercenary Lammergeier aren't you? What are you doing here?" Robin questioned with a weapon in hand. I smirked at his boldness and did a mocking bow. Impulse just looked at me with a knowing look. What was wrong with that kid?

"Oh little Robin, well done! You guessed correctly! As for what I'm doing here, I was paid. Simple as that." I replied calmly. Taking a step forwards to test their bravery, that proved that they were very cautious. They stepped back. I gave them a nod and stopped getting closer.

"I see you guys are quite smart. Considering you're not brave enough to fight me, how about you let me go" I continued. This definitely seemed to rile up impulse as not soon after I spoke he zipped towards me.

Stupid speedster. I moved a slight to my left and stuck out my foot and not as soon as he started running he also went flying off the building into ground below.

"Oops" I smirked and I stood up straight again. A worried look appeared on Robin's face and he flew past me speaking into his comm. Surprisingly he didn't mention me and only the fact that impulse fell off the roof. 

I smiled and nodded at him before I made my quick escape. Smart boy. Very smart.


	12. Chapter 12

**Robin's (Tim) POV**

Lammergeier, a dangerous mercenary that had popped up only just more than a year ago. Considering his short amount of time in his trade he was already feared my mostly all of the other villains and public alike. He normally didn't do anything that involved the league and honestly I think this is the first actually sighting we've ever had of this elusive killer.

A dangerous aura was a understatement of what I felt standing before him. He was so calm, almost friendly but the small looks he gave Impulse and I and his sheer power scared even me.

As I watched him leave I ran to the team who was looking after Impulse after his fall. If we were lucky Impulse could give us a hint as to who Lammergeier was but I doubt he would. He is very strict about his future stuff now.

"Impulse you okay?" I shouted as I ran across the soft ground outside the building. Impulse stood up quick and gave me a small wave. The rest of the team looked worried for him be we all knew he was fine.

"All good" He replied as I got closer. "I guess the mission is over, the Gotham police will be here soon." He continued as he looked around.

Sirens could be heard in the distance so we all agreed and headed towards the nearest zeta beam.

As we entered the mountain the rest of the team was chatting about the mission, I looked immediately for Kaldur so I could report what happened in the mission.

"Hey Robin!" I heard a voice say as I walked into the main area of the cave. It was Wally. It was really sweet that he was always the first one to talk to me but its only because he feels like he has to protect me. Which he doesn't. He feels guilty for the death of the first Robin I get it but I'm completely different from that guy.

"We're all good Wally" I smiled at him before walking off to find the team leader.

**Dick's POV**

After running from the scene of the crime I started to tire quick. When I realised where I was, it came to me that Red Hood lived close to here and I hadn't visited in a few days. It would be nice to catch up seeming as he might have been the one that put me up to this anyway.

As I neared his apartment I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small silver key. I opened the door with a bang and stood in the doorway.

"Jay? By any chance were you the one to throw me into that little set up?" I called out as I walked into my once lost brother's apartment. I heard a crash then a quick snort. I obviously made him jump.

"You mean that druggy load?" Jason chuckled as he came out from his bathroom. He whipped his slightly damp hair out of his face and continued talking. "Might have been. Did you see the old bat?" He smirked as he went to sit down on the small sofa in the middle of his tiny dark apartment.

"No, but I did see that new Robin. He's a smart one" I remarked while going to join him but I stopped short and only stood next to the sofa. If I sat down I would probably sleep straight away.

"Oh you met lil Timmy, he's a good kid isn't he? Hope he didn't annoy you too much" He replied softly putting a hand on my shoulder, I flinched slightly. He saw my flinch and picked up his hand quick.

"Shit sorry Dickie, I keep forgetting about your no touchy rule don't it?" He awkwardly spoke, getting up from his comfortable position to go look out the window. I gave him a small nod as if to say there was no harm done and followed his steps to the window.

"You got any more missions tonight?" Jason spoke breaking our short silence.

"No, nothing is good enough these days. Thought I would go hang with your little enemy but he's in Arkham again." I spoke quick, leaning again the wall of the apartment. He sent me a look of warning but calmed down pretty fast.

"You really shouldn't trust that man Dick. He killed me once, imagine if he found out he was friends with his favourite robin toy." Jason's tone was serious and even. I could tell he worried for me though. 

I had to stop him from killing the Joker after he came back so that is why we fell back into the same of brotherhood we had before. Jason also helped me with getting over my stupid plan of befriending the Joker. Sadly me saving Mr. J put me in the clowns good books and we often hang out and occasionally I will help him with the odd 'performance' he puts on. Doesn't mean I trust the guy though. I'm not as stupid as I once was. At least I am sort of friends with him though, I didn't do all of this for absolutely nothing. I inwardly chuckled to myself before looking back up to a worried face.

"Thanks for the concern Jay but I'm not that dumb to actually trust him" I laughed back before openly yawning. "You know I'm rather tired is it okay if I crash here tonight?" I asked shortly after my first statement.

"Sure Dickie, I gotta go annoy the B-man see if he has figured me out yet. Ill be back late so you can take my bed." He smiled before grabbing his 'hood' off the side.

I gave him a soft wave and headed to his dark bedroom. I stripped down quick leaving only my underwear on. Falling onto his slightly broken bed I was out almost instantly. Its been a while since i've slept. I'm gonna be out for a while.

**Batman's POV**

**_\- A few hours after Dick went to see Jason -_ **

Patrol was a usual for a quiet night, Robin was with me so we were clearing the small crimes very speedily. It was all calm until I heard a gun shot fire in my direction. I dodged it quick and looked up to see my attacker.

It was Red Hood.

I stood up and stabilised my footing on the roof I was perched on.

"Hey B-man how are you this fine night" He spoke with a tilt of the head. His gun trained straight at my chest.

"Hood. What are you doing in this part of Gotham?" I questioned back while pressing a button to call Robin back to me. Some recent information I found of the Red Hood definitely made me cautious of the situation. I didn't want him to run. Not this time.

"Just came down to see how you are doing B." He spoke again now lowering his gun and stepping towards me only to be stopped by Robin appearing out of no where.

"Take one step closer _Jason_ and I'll be forced to take you down" Robin shouted as he landed on the roof next to me. I inwardly cursed to myself as I heard Robin say the second Robin's name. 

It had came a shock to all of us when we matched the blood of Red Hood with the second Robin's but considering his motives it all became clear quick. But now that Tim has blurted out his name I didn't know how he would react.

"Wow! Well done replacement, you finally figured it out only took you guys a year!" He sounded delighted. Well that was a surprise. "Too bad i've lost my bet with Lammergeier now, I thought it would take you at least a couple more months than this. Talking of him, Timmy I heard you met him earlier. Bet that was fun" He smirked. He was oddly at peace with this situation. He clipped his helmet off so we could see his domino mask below.

Before Tim could answer I spoke up. " Why Jason? What happened to you?" I growled which definitely didn't match my softening posture. Jason was silent for a few moments before he lent against a wall and took a deep breath.

"Well if we had this talk a year ago this would be an entirely different conversation. I was brought back from the dead Bruce. You would have no clue what that does to a man. Just imagine this, I come back to life to realise everything had changed. The joker was still alive, my older brother was declared dead. I was messed up, I am still messed up. But at least I'm happy. I guess with all that happened to you I realised I should give something back. I'm glad you know I'm alive. You can see your failure thrive. Isn't that the best come back." He said dangerously calm. 

I took in every word he said and was speechless. He was right, I failed him, and I should even begin to imagine how he was feeling. I failed both of my first Robins, both Jason and Dick. My only hope to redeem myself is to get Jason back on the right track. I looked down at the ground and then back up to his face.

"Come home Jason, we can help you." I replied quick. He pushed himself off the wall and scoffed.

"Seriously Bruce? I don't need help. Anyway I need to go home to wake up a very sleepy Lammergeier which is a death trap on its own." He laughed almost acting if we weren't here. He seemed to care for the mentioned mercenary a lot, the look on his face was both protective and sorta fearful. Suddenly his face became very serious and he turned to Robin.

"Stay away from Lammergeier Tim. Seriously, he dangerous. Don't look into him, don't be all curious. Its best to leave him alone" Jason warned. Now he seemed sad. I had no clue why or what to do so I stayed silent.

With that he left.

We didn't bother to follow him. We would see him again.

Tim had a look in his eyes and I knew what he was thinking.

Who is Lammergeier.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that's all of the pre-written chapters.   
> I don't know when another chapter will come out, I write very slowly becasue I can only do it when i'm in a specific mood :P  
> I'll speed up if people like this story but if not, I will probably take another year to write it xD

**~ One Month Later ~**

**Dick's POV**

To say my life was hard before the league knew of my existence would be a lie. My life was easy, I have friends in high places, a nice home, a lot of money but I digress. Doesn't mean its any harder now though, actually all the league has done is add a bit of extra fun too it.

Its fun watching the league scramble to find me at every report they have. Its fun to see them try and find any information on me. They questioned Jason which pissed him off a bit. Joker gave me a five star review and all other villains just shat their pants and stayed in sweet sweet silence. They weren't having any luck finding me at all. What great 'heroes' they were.

No one, except Jason and Slade, knew enough about me to give me away. Even if people did know I think they would be too scared of what would happen to them.

Anyway, at the time of my thinking I was getting ready for a mission. I had be hired to make a distraction in Gotham so a team of people could rob a bank without the Bats in their way. A bit below what I normally do but a job is a job. I couldn't deny though that my main reason for taking this job is to see old batsy. It had been well over two years since I had last seen him in person. 

I put on my black and red domino mask and slipped on some body armour over my plain black clothes. I spared a quick glance at my normal black kevlar suit but was only reminded of the fun night had had last time I wore it. Fun for me but not for the people whose blood was on the suit.

I walked surely to my brown apartment door and turned off the soft golden lights. With a deep breath I left to my point. That point exactly was a small perch on a tall building in central Gotham. 

The light polluted city lit up the roof I landed on. I looked down onto the quiet streets below, people would have got to be stupid to be out this late in Gotham. Realising I had been staring I glanced back up to where I was meant to have my focus. The mission was more simple than I thought It seemed as almost as soon as my eyes reached normal height, I saw the Bat and his red bird land in front of me.

"Hey Batsy, I don't believe we have met! I'm Lammergeier. Nice to meet you!" I smiled gleefully through my sarcastic tones. Honestly though it was nice to see him again even if it was to fight him. Call me sentimental but I do sort of miss my old father figure. I looked into his dark cowl and could almost guess what emotion his face was showing. He was pissed. I let out a small laugh to myself before glancing down at the small robin.

"I know who you are, i've been told you are very dangerous so I will have to stop you" He growled throwing a batarang in my direction which I promptly dodged. Robin scowled at me to which I replied with a friendly smile.

"Woah there Batman, lets be friendly ay? I may be dangerous but aren't you even going to ask why I'm here?" I quickly spoke, carefully reaching my hands behind my back to my guns. 

"Considering there is a robbery at the bank, i'm guessing you are the distraction?" Robin accused before taking a step forwards. Feeling the need to keep him away from me I shot forward and pulled out my guns, my aim was to intimidate and it definitely work for one of them. Robin jumped back quick but Batman didn't even flinch. Typical bats! 

I do admit I was escalating the situation rather fast but I don't have all night. Wait. No actually I do. I am here to distract. How silly of me forgetting my own mission.

"You really have yourself a smart one there Batsy. Better than the last two. Maybe not the first one. He was always my favourite" I spoke in a dangerous tone that broke at the end of the sentence into a very fake sad tone. You know, so I could add a little dramatic flare!

Batman and Robin stood still, they were unfazed by my odd statement. I was quickly getting bored of this one-sided conversation so I looked for an out. My eyes immediately locked on to how close the bats was actually standing to me. 

Both of my hands held a gun, packed with kevlar piercing bullets. Only being around six feet away from the bat I aimed at his armoured chest. His stance didn't even change when the threat of a gun was placed upon him. He was either stupid or thought I couldn't hurt him. Which is stupid to assume anyway. I decided that testing his guts in this situation was my best plan, after all it is a great distraction. Slowly I put one gun back in my belt and walked close enough to put a gun directly over the Bats chest. He still didn't flinch even once! He could have got away easy but now I had him trapped. Why did he let me get so close!

He didn't think I would shoot!

Robin though being the smart boy he was came up behind me and stuck his staff up near my neck. 

It was too close.

Too close!

"If that touches me little Robin ill kill him" I seethed through my teeth. A wave of panic hit me which caused me to look behind which was bad on my point as this gave the bat an opening to disarm me. As soon as I saw a small smile appear on the small Robin's face I felt the gun get swiped out my hand. In a last effort I quickly drew my second gun and shot at the Bat. He narrowly dodged my bullet before tackling me to the ground.

No.

It was as if the world stopped around me. His thick hands grabbed me and held me still. My brain could not longer think an single intelligent thought. Struggling weakly, I attempted to push him off.

Thoughts of my second kill came into my mind. His disgusting comments. His dark presence. Of how close I was to being violated by that man. How helpless and weak I was. He may not have actually touched me but it was too close. Too close!

No. No no no no no. I had to get him off. 

I no longer saw the bat above me instead I saw the man. His throat slashed, blood dripped only my face but still he had a grip on me. I couldn't escape. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't-

My body froze.

His arms wrapped around me tightly trying to restrain me. But his desperate attempt stopped seeing I wasn't moving. Why would the man give up?

That's when I realised it was Batman again.My mind cleared enough for me to see Batman got off and with a confused look to Robin he knelt down next to me.

I scrambled up quick and looked at him through his cowl. In my disorientation I didn't realise he had put his hand on my shoulder. I wanted to hug him. To tell him. But I couldn't. I can't touch, I can't be touched. I'm broken.

"Lammergeier, are you okay?" I heard him ask through my heavy breathing. I shook my head violently and reached into my belt. He was actually seemed worried for me. He looked directly at my panicked face and this cause him to not even notice my frantic rummaging. 

Spare gun.

Batman may not have noticed but Robin did. I quickly aimed and Robin and fired at him. In his confusion he didn't move. While I aimed at his head my shaky hand jogged me enough to only send the bullet in his chest.

Batman had to let go of me.

Seeing Robin slump down made the bat run over to the fallen bird. This gave me enough time to make my exit. My shaky steps led me to the edge of the high roof. I looked down and saw the dark streets of Gotham below. Pulling out my grapple, I jumped.

I shot my grapple gun in a random direction and hoped that the anchor would land. My luck wasn't available it seemed as while it did hook into something, that something sent me straight into the glass window of the building.

Glass shattered around me as I crashed through the thick glass windows. Pain erupted through my side as I tumbled to the ground. I looked around sluggishly, my head trying to comprehend what just happened, I saw nothing but blood and glass sprawled out before me. Blood? Where was that from? 

My mind had slowly cleared from the events before hand revealing to by once confused brain that I was where the blood was coming from. My hands had been ripped to shreds, I guess that serves me right for not wearing proper gloves. Still laying on my side I attempted to take in my surroundings. The dark room looked regularly used but it seemed no one was there now. What seemed to be dark grey walls framed the expansive area, even though the room was quite big and empty that brought me a great feeling of safety. Until the sound of low voices could be distantly heard. It seemed that the sound of the glass had got the attention of the buildings residents. 

This caused panic to filter into my already struggling brain again and my breathing picked up dramatically. I pulled myself up onto my hands and knees but I almost immediately fell back down again, forgetting the state of my hands it seemed. I tried and tried again, desperately trying to get up, to get away, but nothing was working. As the pain grew harder to handle my struggles died down leaving me in a silent sobbing mess.

I heard a muffled speaking nearby. I hoped that whoever it was would go away but the speaking only got louder as I heard a door open. I scrambled up one last time and looked forward with slightly blurry eyes. Glass dug into my hands as I held myself up, the pain becoming more unbearable by the second. 

My luck returned shortly after it left it seemed as standing before me was Deathstroke. At just sight of him I started crying harder. Broken silent sobs tore through me. The pain I had been concealing before flooded out in waves of panic.

Unfazed the older man walked towards me and pulled me into his chest, his gloved hands soothingly rubbed my back. He had dealt with me like this before. I could tell he was whispering something to me but I couldn't hear at all. I was just mentally exhausted. 

But I was safe. I was always safe with Slade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give feedback because I don't know what I've written. Literally I just type then post, so there could be like 500 spelling errors xD

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to know what you guys think of this so any feedback is welcome!


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